On the pristine equatorial shores of the Maldives, an archipelago best known for luxurious resort hideaways swathed in coral reefs and cerulean seas, India and China’s regional cold war is warming up, writes Bryson Hull for Reuters.
The Maldives, the Dead Sea, Mount Kilimanjaro, the Great Barrier Reef and the Grand Canyon were among the wonders that did not make the final seven.
Meanwhile, the Auditor General noted that staff at the Attorney General’s office were paid overtime salary for the time spent waiting in a queue to sign out at the fingerprint system at the end of working hours.
Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh pledged support at parliament yesterday for the Maldives’ democratic transition through financial assistance and bilateral initiatives for development, becoming the first foreign head of state or government to address the legislative body in its 78-year history.
An unexpected commitment was an agreement in principle that SAARC countries would spend an “appropriate proportion” of their national income on renewable energy technologies.
Foreign dignitaries and heads of state from around the region have begun arriving in the Maldives for the 17th Summit of the South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
The ‘dolphin lagoon’ proposal, which recently received confused and heated media attention, aims to protect a favored yet abused species while appeasing popular demand.
In the first part of a series on the Maldives and Indian Ocean’s early history, O’Shea investigates the “claim Maldivian history is ‘lost in the mists of time’ – a hollow phrase since those mists began to clear ninety years ago.”
Yameen insisted in the face of repeated questioning today that his role as STO chairman did not involve executive functions or “micro-management” of the affairs of subsidiary companies, which “didn’t come to the STO board.”